Two women suspected of being trafficking victims were rescued by Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers at Clark International Airport (CIA) in Pampanga after attempting to leave the country by posing as seafarers.
According to a report submitted to Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco, the BI's travel control and enforcement unit (TCEU) apprehended the passengers on May 24 as they were preparing to board a Cebu Pacific flight to Bangkok.
Initially, the women claimed to be sea-based overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) recruited for employment in Thailand and even presented counterfeit documents in an attempt to deceive immigration officers.
However, they eventually confessed that their actual destination was Laos, where they had been hired as call center agents.
The BI previously highlighted the growing number of Filipinos being trafficked to Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar, where they are recruited under the guise of call center employment only to find themselves working for fraudulent companies.
"The typical modus operandi in these cases involves victims flying to Thailand as an initial step before proceeding on their connecting flight to Laos," Tansingco explained.
During interviews, the victims revealed that they had been recruited for work in Laos through advertisements they came across on social media, and each had paid their handlers P40,000 in exchange for fabricated travel documents.
Both women were referred to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for assistance and to initiate legal proceedings against their recruiters.
Pampanga after attempting to leave the country by posing as seafarers.
According to a report submitted to Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco, the BI's travel control and enforcement unit (TCEU) apprehended the passengers on May 24 as they were preparing to board a Cebu Pacific flight to Bangkok.
Initially, the women claimed to be sea-based overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) recruited for employment in Thailand, presenting counterfeit documents in an attempt to deceive immigration officers.
However, they eventually confessed that their actual destination was Laos, where they had been hired as call center agents.
The BI previously highlighted the growing number of Filipinos being trafficked to Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar, where they are recruited under the guise of call center employment only to find themselves working for fraudulent companies.
"The typical modus operandi in these cases involves victims flying to Thailand as an initial step before proceeding on their connecting flight to Laos," Tansingco explained.
During interviews, the victims revealed that they had been recruited for work in Laos through advertisements they came across on social media, and each had paid their handlers P40,000 in exchange for fabricated travel documents.
Both women were referred to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for assistance and to initiate legal proceedings against their recruiters.